


Stratigraphy

by Bookwormsarah



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-19
Updated: 2010-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-13 19:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/140601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormsarah/pseuds/Bookwormsarah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>River is an archaeologist through and through.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stratigraphy

Digging was in her blood, but she hadn't known it, hadn't felt it until the first time she turned over a thin crust of soil in the Ancient Techniques section of her university course. The wood of the handle (even the tools they used were old), the cool slice of the metal, the precision needed and the layers, layers to be uncovered and revealed.

As she learned to peel back the past, she was building her own stratigraphy. She correctly identified the patterns of a level two settlement from the twenty-fifth century, while letting personal questions slide by. Looking back she had been so very young, and by the time she met The Doctor, she had discovered how to let people in slowly, gradually, a layer at a time, not allowing them further until they had fully understood and recorded each context. The Doctor was one of the few people who persisted and took the time, even if he could never quite remember what time he was at. It had been confusing at first, but taking a tip from her site book, she started keeping notes on any information she discovered about him. There were diagrams. Eventually, exasperated, she threw him an empty volume and suggested he do the same so he could keep track. Sometimes he arrived with it, sometimes he looked blank when she mentioned it, but he kept carefully digging, fascinated by each layer and treating it as special rather than a chore to be ploughed through before reaching the prize. She had dug too many sites to trust people who dove straight to the core, not worrying about the journey. She knew that the layers usually proved more interesting than the bottom of the trench, which could leave you with a vague feeling of 'So?' and an itching disappointment.

Archaology permeated every part of her life. Even now, all these years later, she carried an old fashioned trowel, ready, always ready, to peel back and discover something new, always open, always hoping, always ready for whatever adventure lay in store.


End file.
